Customer Reviews

Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas Album

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ella doesn't swing on this holiday recording she just sings and sings. This is the exact oppposite of the other Ella Christmas recording. It offers beautiful arrangements, alright some are dated, of holiday standards and a chance for Ella to spotlight her vocal talents. A nice CD to play as you open the gifts, smile at the family, and be thankful for another peaceful holiday.

Ella Fitzgerald had it all as a singer Ñ gorgeous tone, perfect diction, great phrasing, a striking sense of rhythm and, best of all, a sense of play and humor that made her joy to listen to every time. Her jazz Christmas album, Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas, has been one of my favorites for years, so I immediately grabbed this one, made up of religious Christmas music, when I saw it in the store last year.

To be honest, I was a little disappointed. ItÕs not a bad album. Her voice is, as always, lovely. But because of the nature of the material, the things that made Fitzgerald such a joy to hear are missing. How much can you play with O Holy Night? How much heart and soul can even a singer as fine as Fitzgerald find in God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen? The songs, obviously, are timelessly beautiful, and Fitzgerald sings them in elegant and lovely style. But, ironically, youÕll find more of the joyous spirit of Christmas in the secular and jazzy Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas than here.

Each year we tend to make Christmas dreams harder to achieve as we place higher expectations on material goods. If you find yourself stressed this Christmas, make yourself a good cup of joe, light a fire, put Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas Album on, and then snuggle with a loved one. Ella's masterful styling mixed with an unobtrusive choir, reminds us that Christmas is simply about family and Love come down to earth.

Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas Album is now my favorite holiday album.Ella has never sounded better on such gems as Silent Night and O Holy Night but my favorite song is The First Noel.Listening to this album will take you back to a simpler time when Christmas meant Our Lord's birthday. No overblown production values just pure,beautiful singing by one of our national treasures,the late Ella Fitzgerald. Definitely 5 stars!!!

Ella had perhaps the most beautiful voice of the 20th century, and she brings a wonderful glow to these traditional carols. You can feel the warmth that she radiates... perfect for the Christmas season, or ANY rainy day. I give it only four stars because it's too short! But the music itself gets five. :D

This is a recording of Ella singing Christmas standards and singing 'em straight. It is NOT jazz. And it most definitely is not Ella at her best.

Ella enhances the Christmas standards with her clear beautiful voice, and some of the tunes here are done beautifully - "The First Noel," for example. "God Rest ye Merry Gentlemen" comes off all right too, even if Ella isn't allowed to swing it.

The choral arrangements backing her on many other tunes are a real annoyance. The additional voices just get in the way.

This is a disappointing collection, in all. For Ella's genius was as a jazz singer, and little of that genius comes through here. "Joy to the World" is a glimmering exception, where Ella was afforded just a little leeway in her phrasing, and manages briefly to get out in front of an otherwise overbearing chorus.

But if what you want is a jazzy rendition for the holidays, one that lets Ella swing things a bit, check out Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas, remastered and re-released with six more songs as Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas [Remastered]

Eric Alan Isaacson